Remission from Crohn's disease is promising if patients adopt a treatment of biologic therapy combined with immune-suppressing drugs rather than using immune-suppressing drugs alone.
Remission from Crohn's disease is promising if patients adopt a treatment of biologic therapy combined with immune-suppressing drugs rather than using immune-suppressing drugs alone.
The study has been published in the April 15, 2010 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. It found treatment of moderate to severe Crohn's disease with infliximab plus azathioprine allows more patients to achieve remission and mucosal healing than therapy with azathioprine alone.
Crohns Disease Could Be Caused By Gaps In The Intestinal Barrier
The human bowel is lined with millions of projections called villi which increase the surface area of the intestine to allow for the efficient absorption of nutrients.
The human bowel is lined with millions of projections called villi which increase the surface area of the intestine to allow for the efficient absorption of nutrients.
The researchers in the international, multi-center SONIC (Study of Biologic and Immunomodulator Naive Patients in Crohn's Disease) study recruited 508 patients with Crohn's disease who were naive to immunomodulator drugs. The patients were then randomized to treatment: 169 infliximab monotherapy, 170 azathioprine monotherapy, or 169 infliximab plus azathioprine combination therapy. Patients underwent colonoscopies at baseline and again at week 26. Patients still in the trial at week 30 were given the option of continuing in a blinded extension trial for another 20 weeks.
Researchers found that 57 percent of patients who received combination therapy with infliximab and azathioprine achieved steroid-free remission after 26 weeks. This is compared to 44 percent of patients who achieved remission with infliximab monotherapy and 30 percent with azathioprine alone. Both the infliximab combination therapy and infliximab monotherapy groups were statistically superior to the azathioprine group. These results were durable through week 50 and overall results show comparable safety in the three groups.
Kids With Crohn's Disease are at Ease Now
Seventeen-year-old Eliot Drieband explains what it’s like to have Crohn’s disease − a type of inflammatory bowel disease .
Seventeen-year-old Eliot Drieband explains what it’s like to have Crohn’s disease − a type of inflammatory bowel disease .
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Gene Variants for Crohn's Disease Identified
Gene variant that raises a child’s risk of Crohn’s disease, which is a chronic and painful condition attributed to inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract.
Gene variant that raises a child’s risk of Crohn’s disease, which is a chronic and painful condition attributed to inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract.
